CRASH! Road Atlanta WERA C Superbike Novice 5/29/21

Tough weekend for me learning the new track and a lot of fast guys out there. This was my first race of the weekend and I made a silly mistake causing me to wreck. Great racing to everyone though and thankful a buddy that went down is okay and healing up!

[@kenhill3135]

That's exactly why I've never dared switch to gp shift !

[@cchief249]

Haha I always thought the same thing until I realized how nice it was on straights to just press down. I grew up racing motocross so it must have crept in for a split second, all it took!

[@langhamp8912]

My first scooter had GP shifting, along with the front brake and throttle on the left side, with a turn signal on each side. The throttle and front brake lever were linked to each other (ie the brake lever goes up and down along with the throttle). Then when I got my first street bike everything was traditional, and of course my bicycles have front brake/left side. Then I had to relearn driving on the right side of the road (I started left side). I've had a lot of "oops" moments.

[@Patchman4062]

Somebody is going to be pissed over the fresh sod.

[@cchief249]

lol yeah I felt bad once I saw it, they had cleaned it up and put it all back by the next day.

[@br5380]

Fresh grass but no marshals, good job he'd not hurt himself

[@78logistics]

Wow . Glad you are OK. Sh*t happens..have not dropped mine yet but went off the track a few times ..all a learning process. I am at 63 just glad to be able to do this.Thanks for sharing.

[@cchief249]

Thanks man I appreciate it. Yeah it's a blessing anytime we get to ride, such a fun sport. Stay safe out there!

[@78logistics]

@@cchief249 next track days two weeks away:) Gotta get the frame sliders installed on my new Gixxer 750. In the meantime will get the adrenaline flowing with people shooting hard rubber things at me at 100 mph tonight...Goalies like track riders a weird (wired?) lot. Cheers have a good weekend.

[@210hondarider81]

Glad you’re ok. I kept my bike normal shift for this reason. Lot of these things are muscle memory decisions and thats hard to break

[@cchief249]

Yep, decades of motocross! I was regularly cramping though without gp on the road bike. Guess I can keep trying better bike settings to get more comfortable.

[@cabovermike]

That is the best video footage/qualty ive ever seen, i thought it was one of those computer high def generated videos for a while,.simply brilliant ,.

[@cchief249]

Thanks a lot!

[@barrymergen6345]

Looked good up until that point….raced for a couple years CCS..,kept street shift exactly for that reason…already way too much to think about…ended up switching my street bike over to gp shift,..love it…a lot more positive up shifts…but still have to think about it a lot. Glad you are ok to race another day

[@cchief249]

Thank you. Come back to racing and get back into it!

[@kevinroberts361]

Glad your ok !! I raced the old "Road Atlanta" with the gravity cavity on the back straight !!!Whew it was fun. Raced against Colin Edwards there in "91, damn he whooped our ass at 17 years old !!

[@cchief249]

That's awesome!! My father road raced back in the day here as well and has similar stories and came up racing with Josh Hayes and company. Great times!

[@b-radsadventures6846]

I miss the old turn 12 and the section before the chicane. They're putting in chicanes everywhere...

[@sigbauer9782]

"you're"

[@patrickhicks8912]

glad your ok bro, thats a fast sector. ripped a line straight through the fresh grass lol

[@cchief249]

Thanks man, yeah I looked back and was like oh no.. hope they don't bill me for that lmao.

[@armydog1002]

WOW! Glad you were ok. Very scary moment.

[@cchief249]

Definitely was! But thank you.

[@b-radsadventures6846]

Looking mostly good out there! Courteous racing. Hope to see you at some track days.

[@cchief249]

Thanks! Started looking much better in my later races that weekend as I learned the track better and flowed nicer. Hope to see you out sometime, too!

[@dinogualandri7624]

Racing has nothing to do with courtesy..be the first to the checkered flag is what Racing is about

[@DaxxTerryGreen]

Love how you own brother. Peace

[@alanrodriguez7341]

Sorry about your bike and the get off. I hope it goes better next time. GP shifts are to get use too. Take care. Al

[@cchief249]

Thanks! Yeah it was a weird moment and I think I just had too many things going on in my head at that time and I made the simple mistake.

[@kickingagainstthepricks4059]

To error is human. That’s what makes it so exciting. Glad you are okay 👍

[@cchief249]

Thanks!

[@kickingagainstthepricks4059]

@@cchief249 I myself didn’t get so lucky this time. I run a 19 Honda liter bike myself and missed my corner at 140. 11 busted bones but I’m on the mend👍 I had 99 positive choices and one bad. Guess which one I took 🫣 Why?? 😂

[@cchief249]

@@kickingagainstthepricks4059 Oh no! I've broken that many bones but not in one instance! lol sorry to hear that man, rest up and speedy recovery and back at it! I'm down right now, too from a mountain bike accident (on my channel). Part of the game.

[@kickingagainstthepricks4059]

@@cchief249 Will do. You too!

[@sirpatrickbikes]

Hope the bike is not too expensive to fix and you're able to carry on with your racing!

[@cchief249]

Thanks! Somehow i didn't break anything, just straightened a couple things up and was able to finish my races that weekend 🤘

[@richardcole1280]

Awesome to see another cbr out there racing

[@cchief249]

Heck yeah, love my Hondas. Sadly don't have her anymore!

[@CBRpaul]

Took that like a champ!

[@arongonzalec1142]

Yo tengo una honda cbr f4i y senti tu caido como si yo fuese. Un saludo desde Asturias (España)

[@cchief249]

F4i es una gran moto, ¡disfruta rodando por esas fabulosas pistas en España!

[@epicbeardproduction]

impressive coming out of the esses and crashing haven't seen that yet. Most MotoAmerica riders wreck going to hot into turn 5 and low side it. Gagne did it this year in fact. Or I have seen going into turn 7 right before there is a little dip. Another hot spot for wrecks is turn 10a especially with the Jr. Cup kids. Glad to see you weren't injured. Keep pushing maybe one of these days our paths may cross. I do a lot of media work for some of the MotoAmerica teams.

[@cchief249]

Yeah it was a silly mistake but you're right, not common there. I sat in the esses this year for MA and there were some pretty spectacular offs, thankfully all were okay. But thanks, hopefully they will! Out in CA now continuing to ride and better the craft.

[@epicbeardproduction]

@@cchief249 my hats off to all the riders that race no matter what level. It is very impressive

[@markmontgomery9442]

GP shift is there for a reason run by racers, but once you switch never go back or switch off and on to normal. I even changed my street bikes to gp, that oh shit muscle/ brain memory of going fast when you need to shift should never have a doubt in your mind/body to go up or down. I've done it before on friends borrowed bike for a session with normal shift but on a trackday pace that luckily no one was behind me. On a race pace, no bueno

[@cchief249]

Yeah I agree, such a small mistake but with big consequences, not only for you the rider but many times it can lock up a motor requiring a rebuild. I got lucky all things considered!

[@user-xg2wf5hz4e]

I'm glad you weren't hurt.👍

[@cchief249]

Thanks!

[@WorldwideRealityVideos]

Gp shifting always scared me a little... I would have to undo 30 years of muscle memory.

[@cchief249]

Right?! Takes some adjustment for sure. It's just more comfortable in racing when you're tucked to upshift. With where I like my pegs it was a pain to grab std shifts with no QS.

[@billb7876]

@@cchief249 No idea what you are talking about, do you mean clutchless gearchanges or what? Why did you change the wrong way?

[@cchief249]

@@billb7876 not clutchless shifts on this bike. GP shift just means you click up to downshift and down to upshift. It's typically preferred in racing where upshifting on straightaways is easier to accomplish pushing down instead of up since your ankle is already compressed in a tucked position. In the case of my accident, as I was learning the track still I hadn't upshifted there previously, so on this lap I realized I needed to as I was picking up pace and reverted back to standard shift mentality accidentally which made the bike downshift when I meant to upshift, locking the rear wheel (too high RPM) and sending me off track.

[@mcsbikelife3829]

Man I love gp shift , I run regular on every other bike I have and haven’t had any issues . Though I can see how it happens I’m lucky and not an issue .

[@cchief249]

Yeah I think if I had more practice time at this track I'd have been fine. It was learning shift points in the middle of a race I think is what got me lol.

[@CBRpaul]

Hey man I just bought an 06 cbr600 to convert to a track bike, what did you do for your suspension? Was thinking about redoing and revalaving the front forks and putting in a Nitron rear shock. Anything better I can do ?

[@cchief249]

Awesome! I never upgraded the suspension on this bike, but knowing what I do now, I would have. It’s a great investment. Your plan sounds great, get the forks refreshed/valved and an upgraded adjustable shock. Then have someone set it up for your weight and you should be golden, you’ll feel a huge difference and have much more confidence riding hard on track. Enjoy the bike, they’re great!

[@CBRpaul]

@@cchief249 Holy crap bro, that’s mind blowing you were riding that hard on factory suspension. Your a freaking savage and definitely a huge confidence booster. I can only imagine the bike will feel even more planted with some suspension mods. Thanks for the reply!

[@ToddSails]

'Forgot you were GP shift'? OK. Remember, head up- up on the shift. Head down- push down on the shifter.

[@cchief249]

Hadn't heard that before that's great! Years of racing motocross on std shift probably crept in lol. Appreciate the advice.

[@scottschaper1674]

Looks like your were getting motored down the straight. That honda needs some more power!!

[@cchief249]

Absolutely! She was an old girl and stock, have a '19 ZX-6R now which is much more competitive (and fun lol).

[@MikeStar2000]

You even wrote GP shift on a piece of tape 😄

[@cchief249]

haha right?! It's required for workers if they pick your bike up. Trust me, wish I could go back and fix that silly mistake.

[@stangtrax]

WOW, 80 MPH nothing on you broken etc? Well I found your channel researching and thinking about learning to ride a street bike. I've driven a car on this track and could get 136mph and this bikes will laugh at that. I personally couldn't imagine flying of at 80 or the almost 170 mph i see you at on the straight. Thinking of bikes because it's cheaper than running track days in a car. I'm considering taking a class then looking into N2 trackdays. Glad you are okay

[@cchief249]

Yeah luckily went through the grass and nothing injured! Bikes will come naturally to you if you're experienced in the car on track since you know what traction feels like, line selection, etc. Go for it! I've raced cars before and bikes are a different monster. Best of luck to you, so much fun.

[@noseishin]

I felt your pain brother

[@cchief249]

Thanks, always frustrating when you make simple mistakes!

[@Marie579]

In your credit you got back on and rode it. didn’t when I went over.

[@cchief249]

I think it's pure luck whether a bike decides to get scratched or total itself in a wreck lol. Sorry to hear about yours, part of the game!

[@navystrackstar]

Lol at the part where you said “gp shift is stupid” 🤣🤣. As you get better and faster you’ll quickly learn why it is a great benefit. Depending on the track layout and how you accelerate you may find that you need to shift up mid turn while leaned over to the left and that is where gp shift will be of great benefit. Much harder to do if you need to hook your toe under the shifter to up shift while leaned over and then possibly clip your foot on the ground and have a really bad day. You also rushed a few of your entries which was throwing off you hitting the apex.

[@cchief249]

Haha yeah I was telling myself "it's GP shift you stupid **" but same same. I raced motocross growing up with std shift so I think that crept in. I definitely realize the benefit of GP though! I prefer it for sure for the reasons you express. This was my first time at this track and my first race, so I'd only had a 10 minute practice to learn the track and was still figuring out my lines. Admittedly should have done more KZbin track review, etc to prepare but I eventually got the hang of it and it's now one of my favorite tracks. Cheers!

[@navystrackstar]

@@cchief249 lol yea when I first switched to GP shift I made that mistake one time, fortunately I didn’t crash but that nearly blowing up my engine part made me remember to never do that again lmao. For a first time at the track with very little laps turned that’s not bad. You definitely have a solid launch!

[@bobcook599]

If you are racing, and you have to label your bike to remind you that you're using GP shifting...and then you forget during a race...you shouldn't be racing. Hard lesson learned, and I'm glad you are OK.

[@cchief249]

Fair point Bob, it was definitely my mistake. However, the bike isn't labelled for me, it's a rule for WERA for corner workers if they need to retrieve your bike in event of a wreck, etc. I've also raced motocross since I was 4, so std shift was pretty engrained. At the time of this video it was my first season racing, hence 'novice'. We all make mistakes, just learning from mine.

[@raynic1173]

Is this DCS, at 4:38 the grass in pixelated?

[@cchief249]

What's DCS? May just be the exposure of the GoPro at that instance.

[@raynic1173]

@@cchief249 it was a joke. DSC=digital combat simulator. I t wasrefereing to the sod sections

[@cchief249]

@@raynic1173 I get it now, and feel stupid haha.

[@raynic1173]

@@cchief249 It's all good bro, thanks for uploading the MC video. Years ago I got to Be on track of many of the east coast tracks. Unfortunately, Road Atlanta wasn't one of them.

[@janetpearson1455]

Did you have to reset the sod?

[@cchief249]

No but I was willing to! Haha the track crew there is pretty awesome, they had it patched up quickly.

[@janetpearson1455]

@@cchief249 lol

[@c.elston8334]

It happens bro.

[@oettaminovog7963]

Gran partenza..poi, FORSE, non ha capito che era una gara..

[@cchief249]

L'ho sentito prima, so che puzzo, ma grazie comunque!

[@stevebrooks8625]

what the hell is GP shift?

[@cchief249]

Switching the shift lever to shift up when you press down and down when you pull up.

[@modoodle1851]

Put a large sticker with arrows on dash to remind you it's gp shift

[@cchief249]

Not a bad idea!

[@modoodle1851]

@@cchief249 excellent video footage by the way . Man I wish I could be racing at your level . Keep it up and ride safe

[@cchief249]

@@modoodle1851 never know, you always could! And thank you I appreciate that 🤘

[@modoodle1851]

@@cchief249 very expensive at the moment with cost of tyres at event prices in the UK . However I may start racing supermoto pitbike 140cc races . Cheap and cheerful . But yeh thanks for the positive motivation . Lol .

[@cchief249]

@@modoodle1851 it's definitely not a cheap sport. Supermoto is a great idea though, those bikes are tons of fun. Hope you're able to get out there!

[@Music-pq8cm]

I tried switching to GP but after 30 years of standard shifting, the opposite required too much thought to ensure I shifted correctly. What was instinct, muscle/mind memory and automatic now required thought which threw everything off at high speeds. If you’re thinking of every movement rather than just doing at high speeds, you’re f-cked.

[@cchief249]

Yeah it's definitely difficult to go back and forth or make the switch after such a long time as you say. My issue with this bike was discomfort and cramps std shifting in the tuck. In hindsight I should have adjusted my rearsets further and stuck to std shift. But I had several races after this one on this bike and never had issue with GP shift, this was a one-off mistake, just unfortunately resulted in a crash haha.

[@Music-pq8cm]

@@cchief249 live and learn … I lost my rear coming out of 7, followed by a head shake / tank slapper and my Moto cartwheeling down the track. My tires weren’t sufficiently warmed up. Never made that mistake again 😊

[@brianchristenson6055]

Honda fires right up! Love my fireblade!)

[@cchief249]

They’re the best!

[@dinogualandri7624]

Be smart...choose regular shift or gp shift on all your motorcycles and it becomes habit and muscle memory it's pretty clear you thought you could switch back and forth without incident

[@cchief249]

Not bad advice, my bike now is std shift but I'm looking to get rearsets required to run GP shift. Running between both on different bikes a bit of a risk, but I'm normally able to just fine. This was a one-time lapse in focus that caught me out, we're all human!

[@jesuschrist-alphaomega]

Great start. Then u got smoked. Lost track at how many passed you

[@cchief249]

I'm sorry you can't even count to 10 haha. JK, I'm slow, thanks man!

[@jesuschrist-alphaomega]

@@cchief249 lol. It happened so fast. Ya I am sure I am slow to compare to that guy. But I've never been passed by that many riders

[@cchief249]

@@jesuschrist-alphaomega yeah competition on the east coast is fierce, lot of fast guys!

[@jesuschrist-alphaomega]

@@cchief249 come down to TX an the CMRA. more successful riders have come out of our group then almost any where else

[@cchief249]

@@jesuschrist-alphaomega will have to try and make it out sometime, I'm from Texas but military keeps me elsewhere. I'm sure I'll make it out to a race down there over a holiday at some point 🤙

[@tomsimpson5317]

I miss georgia

[@cchief249]

Great racing down there!

[@eyeye_ryu9145]

Jangan menyerah bro

[@cchief249]

Tidak akan pernah!

[@virginflyer]

Frightening lack of corner workers (marshals) coming to your assistance, if you had been unconscious with an obstructed airway your outcome would have been different

[@cchief249]

Definitely see your point! Unfortunately this race was red flagged prior to me going down (had I made one more corner or so I would have gotten the red). A good friend had a bad off a few turns ahead and medical and all attention was dispatched to him, understandably so. I got up from my wreck immediately and threw the nearest corner worker a thumbs up, so they were not worried about me, all good!!

[@bartreyna23]

Dang 1.2k views…. And man all that nice sod RIP

[@cchief249]

Right? Crazy honestly lol. Yeah they were able to patch it up the next day pretty nicely.

[@cchief249]

20k?! lol

[@sigbauer9782]

Reverse shift is there for a reason. You just done fucked-up. BTW, was this a reverse-grid thing they did, with the slower riders up front? I mean, you looked as though you qualified well and got a good start, but then you were passed by EVERYONE, including the hot dog stand guy.

[@cchief249]

Yep I definitely did. Grid is based on season points standings. This was my fourth ever race, so lots to still work on for myself, and I was on a 16 year-old bike, and I was credited 9th out of 25 racers this race. But yeah, I'm slow, thanks for the assessment.

[@sigbauer9782]

@@cchief249 Well I guess that shows that you shouldn't be bringing a knife to a gun fight.

[@aditiamancing]

Payah sekali kau kawan,..

[@AcasadiFabiana]

Cbr slow engine

[@cchief249]

Smooth and reliable but yeah definitely not fast!

[@stefanoberndorfer1771]

What a beginner....

[@cchief249]

Thanks!

[@jamesperreault4506]

you know you suck when you get to 2nd and then most of the field passes you

[@cchief249]

Lol yeah I'm not very good, thanks bro.

[@jamesperreault4506]

@@cchief249 no problem. well good news is you can only improve. you have great starts. there is always drag racing if this doesnt pan out

[@liws5204]

很好听啊！🐦叫！多些会更好😆😆幸灾乐祸🥴

[@cchief249]

只是掩饰我的愤怒！

[@liws5204]

@@cchief249 为何要愤怒？应该内慧💕的笑！就是真正人生！😆😆

[@cchief249]

@@liws5204 只是因为这是一个简单的错误，我希望我没有犯。但是，是的，我没有受伤，所以一切都很好！

[@liws5204]

@@cchief249 😳😆😆

[@carcass83]

Amateur racer😁👍